Not just what and how, but why!
Errata Thanks to Dr. Stefan Svensson for identifying an issue in Backdraft and Smoke Explosion: Part 2. The term surface combustion was taken from the 14th Edition of the Fire Protection Handbook (NFPA, 1976). I had always thought that the explanation of flaming and “surface” combustion from this text was simple and easy to understand. … Read more
Back to the Beginning Really understanding the difference between backdrafts and smoke explosions requires an understanding of several basic concepts of fire dynamics. Much of this should be a review, but there are several important connections to the phenomena of backdraft and smoke explosion. Combustion Combustion is a chemical process where a fuel reacts with … Read more
What’s the Difference? The fire behavior phenomena backdraft and smoke explosion are often confused. This is no surprise given that the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (NFPA, 2024) and NFPA 1700 Guide for Structural Fire Fighting (NFPA, 2022) provide different, and decidedly ambiguous definitions for these two phenomena. … Read more
Common Operating Picture and Situational Awareness This series of posts began with a simple question related to a one-story house with a walkout basement on Side Charlie, “how do I describe the number of stories and basement in my follow-up report”? The second post in the series, dug a bit deeper into the importance of … Read more
Basements and Stories “On Side Charlie” As discussed in the last post, we often have an incomplete perspective on incident conditions such as building layout and configuration. It is essential that firefighters and fire officers recognize not only what they know, but what they do not and work to develop a common operating picture and … Read more
Basements and Stories “On Side Charlie”-Part 1 There is an old Indian fable about six blind men trying to make sense of an elephant. Each of the men was touching a different part of the elephant; the side, the trunk, a tusk, one of its legs, an ear, and its tail. Each man was convinced … Read more
Developing Vicarious Experience Formal learning is an essential part of firefighters’ and fire officers’ professional development, but informal learning is equally important, with lessons frequently shared using stories. Stories are about sharing knowledge, not simply about entertainment. It is their ability to share culture, values, vision and ideas that make them so critical. They can … Read more
Sanming Modern Practical Firefighting Training Center From March 18th to the 22nd I was privileged to attend the International Fireground Survival Championship and 1st International Firefighter Workshop China at the Sanming Modern Practical Firefighting Training Center in Sanming, China. The Training Center The Sanming Fire Department runs the Sanming Modern Practical Fire Training Center. The … Read more
Simple, clear, & concise fireground communications. 2nd Law of Combat In their book Extreme Ownership, retired Navy Seals Joko Willink and Leif Babin state that the 2nd law of combat is to “keep communications simple, clear, and concise”. This is as essential on the fireground as it is in military combat! Blue Card provides a … Read more
For structural firefighters, response to a fire in a tunnel is an uncommon experience. On Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:37 firefighters in Green River, Wyoming responded to a multiple vehicle accident and fire in the Twin Tunnel on Interstate 80. Working on a 10-Minute Training tactical decision game based on this incident got me … Read more